Their CASA a full house

All in the family

Watch video from Larry and Heidi Kellems being sworn in as Court Appointed Special Advocates.

JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Larry Kellems of Boonville, Ind., loads his children, from left, Nate, Andy, Tim and Allen, into the family's 15-passenger van in Boonville on Friday after Kellems and his wife were sworn in as official advocates for the Warrick County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. The Kellems have nine children, including five foster children they are in the process of adopting.

The Kellems crew, as they refer to themselves, pose for a photograph along with Judge David Kelley.

JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Larry Kellems, left, of Boonville is sworn-in as an official advocate for the Warrick County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) by Judge David Kelley before his wife, Heidi, center, was also sworn-in at the Warrick County Judicial Center in Boonville on Friday.

JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Larry Kellems of Boonville works at his Country Home Child Care at his home on Friday.

BOONVILLE, Ind. — If someone had told her 18 years ago she was going to be the mother of nine children, Heidi Kellems would have told them they were crazy.

But now it's second nature for the 35-year-old and her husband, Larry.

To volunteer or to learn more about the Court Appointed Special Advocate program:n Vanderburgh County has about 240 children on its waiting list for advocates. Contact Suzanne Draper at 424-5825 - Warrick County has 16 children on its waiting list for advocates Contact Monica Freimiller at 305-5878.

Larry and Heidi Kellems have a big home and decided they wanted to fill it with children, and the couple always have wanted to make a difference.

That's what they've done.

The Kellems' children range in ages from 4 to 14 — four biological children and five foster children, all brothers and sisters, that they are in the process of adopting. The couple also run a state-licensed day care.

"One of the things when we first moved in here ... we felt our lives were to make a difference in children's lives mainly. To make a difference was one of those things that came through your head over and over," Heidi Kellems said.

"I know we've made a difference in the lives of the children we've had in foster care, and I know we've made a difference in our children that we've adopted. The CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program is an extension of that ..."

On Friday, the couple were sworn in as Court Appointed Special Advocates in Warrick County as their children — Jessica, 14; Elizabeth, 12; Jasmine, 11; Timothy, 10; Nate, 9; Camilia, 8; Allen, 5; Andy, 5; and Eleana, 4 — looked on.

The program provides an independent voice for children during court proceedings, especially those dealing with abuse and neglect.

Advocates go through 30 hours of initial training that includes learning about laws and statutes, being able to determine indicators of child abuse and neglect and drug and alcohol abuse and attending court.

The program's director, Monica Freimiller, said the Kellems are the second couple the program has had as volunteers.

"The Kellems are just an extraordinary family. They just have a heart for kids," she said. "My husband and I are both CASA advocates, so it brings a unique relationship into the program because the husband and wife can bounce their frustrations and their concerns about their cases with each other without infringing on their confidentiality oath that they're assigned. They can talk to each other."

The Warrick County CASA program has 72 cases it is working with and 16 children on its waiting list for advocates.

Freimiller said the program is helpful because during one case a number of factors can change, from foster homes to therapists to caseworkers, but CASA advocates are with a child from the beginning to the end — sometimes for years.

"The thing that makes them unique is that they are civilian volunteers," she said. "It is not a paid position. They train under the program director, and then they are sworn officers of the court. They are full party status to each case, so they have all the information available to them, which is unique because they're not attorneys, they're not therapists, they're not social workers. They're advocates."

And for the Kellems, children are their calling.

Larry Kellems, 36, said he is the oldest of 10 children — including his four adopted siblings. His parents are still foster parents and talk of adopting even more children.

To follow in his parents' footsteps was natural, he said.

Being CASA advocates give the Kellems another avenue to help children.

"There's so many more children I can help out," Larry Kellems said. "Not necessarily in my home, but outside my home by being their voice. Today was special for us because it gives us another avenue to work with children that are in need, aside from being foster parents and adoption parents."

And they're also inspiring the children in their home.

Jasmine said she doesn't have a problem with her parents becoming CASA volunteers and would like to follow in their footsteps as a future foster parent and CASA volunteer.

"I want to follow them around because I feel that if I'm a foster kid, I know what they are going through and I can talk to them," she said. "I can talk to them. I want to be a mini-CASA."